The Best Classic Carrot Cake

The two kinds of cake side-by-side: this recipe is for the one in the foreground.

For my birthday this year I made two kinds of carrot cake- one classic and one with an Indian dessert theme (that I'll post the recipe for later). This one is pretty much what I believe a carrot cake should be- some people are purists who prefer less mix-ins, but I like an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink kind of carrot cake with all the spices, pineapple, coconut, walnuts, and sultanas... of course, you can skip those if you wish, but I believe that they all contribute to the deliciousness of this cake.

I decorated it with marzipan carrots and walnut pieces, but if it isn't a special occasion you can still make this cake with less frills and have it taste just as good. I suspect I'm going to make it again come spring- you don't need a reason for cake this good!

Classic Carrot Cake

Adapted from Moje Wypieki

2/3 C. Flour
1 Tsp. Baking soda
1 Tsp. Baking powder
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp. each nutmeg, allspice and cloves
1/2 C. Sugar
1/3 C. Vegetable or nut oil
1 C. Walnut pieces
1/2 C. Pineapple, finely chopped/shredded
1 C. Carrots, grated and packed
1 C. Sultanas
1/2 C. Shredded unsweetened coconut

Grease a 9" round cake pan with butter and line the bottom with a circle cut out of baking parchment. Grease the parchment and preheat the oven to 180℃.

Sift together flour, baking soda and powder, salt and spices. Separately, beat the oil, eggs and sugar until well-blended and add the dry ingredients until a homogenous mix forms. Mix in the pineapple, coconut and carrots until well-combined.

Stir in the sultanas and walnuts last. Pour into the pan and bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting

300 g. Cream cheese (not low-fat!)
90 g. Butter, softened
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
1 - 1 1/2 C. Powder sugar

Beat the butter, vanilla and cream cheese until well-combined. Add the powder sugar spoonwise until the consistency and sweetness is to taste.

Mincemeat Fruit Mix

This is entirely my improvisation on what I thought ought to be in a mincemeat mix, and what I happened to have in the cupboard that looked like it could use a bit of livening up with rum and spices. Some citron and orange peel from Easter, various half-finished containers of raisins, some currants... the dates and cherries are new, though. I like the honey-like stickiness that date bits add to things, and I love the tartness of dried cherries (I got lucky and found unsweetened ones) in contrast to the raisins. 

The whole thing is doused in a mixture of alcohol remnants from the bottom of several mini-bottles, with the traditional rum, some brandy (it seemed right) and Grand Marnier for some extra orangey flavour. The spices are also all wild guesses on what goes into a mincemeat- I used a lot of allspice and cloves since that seems to be characteristic of mincemeat to me, but it's all a matter of preference. There's plenty of brown sugar to create a thick layer of alcohol-spice-goo and moisten everything, some lemon juice for acidity, and a bit of hazelnut oil in the place of suet just to coat all the components and add a little complexity of flavour. Later on when using the mincemeat, some extra butter or flavoured oil for further enrichment would be a good idea- I use butter-cooked apples in my mince pies, so I didn't use much fat here. The apple variant is included at the bottom, and is in my opinion better for filling pies as it tempers the intensity of the dried fruit while adding moisture.

Every once in a while I open up the container just to smell how fantastic this mincemeat is, and every time it's better than the last. It gets me excited for the prospects of my first-ever attempt at Christmas baking derived from the Anglosphere, which is kind of necessitated by the fact that I love mincemeat but the local bakery makes it the traditional non-vegetarian suet-enriched way.

I messed up the first time around with too many spices and too much alcohol- I ended up soaking half the mix in hot water to soak out some of the seasonings, then returned them to the rest of the mix to make a milder, better-balanced mincemeat. I've already changed the ingredients accordingly, but keep in mind that taking things out is a lot harder than putting them in- when in doubt, leave it out, and you can always readjust the seasonings before using later.

Mincemeat Fruit Mix
100 g. Currants
120 g. Dried tart cherries, preferably unsweetened
220 g. Yellow and/or green sultanas
220 g. Dark raisins
125 g. Candied orange peel, diced
90 g. Candied citron peel, diced
100 g. Chopped pitted dates
150 g. Brown sugar
1/4 Tsp. Nutmeg
1/4 Tsp. Cardamom
1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp. Ginger
1/2 Tsp. Allspice
1/4 Tsp. Cloves
1 TBSP Vanilla extract
2 TBSP Hazelnut oil
1/2 C. Rum, brandy and Grand Marnier- about 1/2 rum and 1/4  each of the others
1 Tsp. Lemon zest
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Mix all well and leave to marinate in a sealed container in the refrigerator for at least a month, preferably more. 

Variant with Cooked Apples

Half of above fruit mix
About 2 tart cooking apples- peeled, cored and grated
2 TBSP Sugar, preferably cane or light brown
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 TBSP Butter

Heat butter in a medium saucepan or skillet and add sugar. Add apples, and cook on medium heat until all the liquids have been released. Add lemon juice and keep cooking until most of the liquid is evaporated and the apples are soft.

Mix with the mincemeat.